ARTISTS' BOOKS - Messiah College

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The Time/Life Series, Jody Williams, 1997. Tunnel Map (left), Carol June ... shaped book literally unfolds to tell a story from the artist's childhood. In reflecting on.
FRIENDS OF MURRAY LIBRARY presents a selection of

ARTISTS’ BOOKS from

A Hundred Years of: LEX FLEX, Ruth Laxson, 2003

Reading Dick and Jane with Me, Clarissa T. Sligh, 1989

DIRECTIONS TO MURRAY LIBRARY

M URRAY L IBRARY’S S p e c ial C o ll e c t i o n

SOUTHBOUND ON US 15: Travel approximately three miles beyond the Pennsylvania Turnpike interchange to the Lisburn Road exit. Turn left at the end of the exit ramp. Turn right onto Grantham Road. At the entrance to the campus, turn right onto College Avenue and travel to the first stop sign. Turn left and continue past Boyer Hall and Hostetter Chapel to the library parking lot. NORTHBOUND ON US 15: Travel approximately four miles beyond the PA 74 North intersection near Dillsburg to the Lisburn Road exit. Turn right at the end of the exit ramp. Turn right onto Grantham Road. At the entrance to the campus, turn right onto College Avenue and travel past the first stop sign. Turn left and continue past Boyer Hall and Hostetter Chapel to the library parking lot.

Otherspace: Martian Ty/opography, Johanna Drucker & Brad Freeman, 1992

LIBRARY HOURS: Monday-Thursday, 7:30 A.M.-12:00 Midnight Friday, 7:30 A.M.-6:00 P.M. Saturday, 10:00 A.M.-8:00 P.M. Sunday, 2:00 P.M.-12:00 Midnight

The Time/Life Series, Jody Williams, 1997

SUMMER HOURS: Monday & Wednesday, 8:00 A.M.- 8:00 P.M. Tuesday, Thursday & Friday, 8:00 A.M.-5:00 P.M. Closed Weekends Parking is located in the rear or front entrance of the library

MURRAY LIBRARY

One College Avenue Grantham, PA 17027 717.691.6006 Cover: What’s Happening with Momma?, Clarissa T. Sligh, 1988. Sligh’s dimensional, houseshaped book literally unfolds to tell a story from the artist’s childhood. In reflecting on her family experiences, Sligh adopts “the eye, the language, the texts and formal ‘naivety’ of childhood.” Nature Abhors, Philip Zimmerman, 2003

Designed by Amy Chow and Emily Pratt, Publication Portfolio Class, 2010

Tunnel Map (left), Carol June Barton, 1988; Interior view (right)

What Are Artists’ Books?

A

“ In many ways it could be argued that the artist’s book is

the quintessential 20th-century artform.”

—Johanna Drucker, native Pennsylvanian and internationally recognized book artist

RTISTS’ BOOKS IN Murray Library’s special collection look nothing like the volumes that fill the library shelves. Some have covers, pages, and bindings, but there is also a deck of cards detailing the lives of female saints, a set of twelve silkscreened handkerchiefs depicting memorable phrases and images of our forty-third president, and a presentation of nine migraine cures with movable parts that allow you to try out the solutions.

Which One Are You?, (detail, opened) The Word Made Flesh, Johanna Drucker, 1996

Infertility: A 28-Day Journey, Jeri Robinson, 1997 Which One Are You?, Marylee Bytheriver, 1998

Visually exciting and intellectually provocative, artists’ books push to the outermost limits our assumed definition of what a book is, and turn the practice of reading into a novel experience. Artists’ books are, simply, a hybrid art form in which books and art intersect.

In Here, Out There, Jody Williams, 1998

From scrolls, concertinas, and flag books, to pop-ups, volvelles, and fans—formats and structures run the gamut. The materials used are equally varied, ranging from natural vellum and handmade paper to such unexpected objects and substances as wood, textiles, beads, metal, feathers, silk, and stone. Acting as designer, producer, and publisher, the book artist chooses not only the materials from which the book will be constructed, but also determines the layout as well as the interaction of the structure with the content. Women, especially, have taken the lead in the field of artists’ books; although all book artists delight in the egalitarian prospects of multiples and production processes that do not rely on publishing hierarchies. Book artists draw from personal history, literature, music, theater, wonders of the natural world, even dreams. Their works respond to human misery, to dramatic events which have shaped our era, to the vicissitudes of love. They may also be inspired by controversial political and social issues. Artists’ books may adopt any or all forms of contemporary art—painting, sculpture, photography, printmaking, design and digital media, installation, performance art (film and video)—as well as all forms of craft, including fiber art, bookbinding, calligraphy, papermaking, typography. Some artists’ books are rare and costly one-of-a-kind objects; others, such as those made by activist artists, are inexpensively produced to communicate their

Blinky: The Friendly Hen, Jeffrey Vallance, 1996

Cupid’s Cay, Bahamas, 1994-2007: Governor’s Harbor, Eleuthera, Kathy T. Hettinga, 2007 Eye Book, Robbin Ami Silverberg, 2001

Be Positive About Your Doubts, Kay Burford, 1990

Lambs of the San Luis Valley, Volume II, Kathy T. Hettinga, 1995

The Business Is Suffering, Maureen Cummins, 2003. Cummins’s book was inspired by a correspondence collection she discovered in the American Antiquarian Society archives. The letters, which date from 1846 to 1863, collectively document the demise of the slave trade as a viable business in the South.

Animals, Vegetables, Et, David Moyer, 1997

message to a wide audience. The nature of artists’ books is ever-changing— constantly influenced by new media, techniques, and concepts. Many of the artists’ books in Murray Library’s special collection are the work of well-known book artists who have exhibited at universities, libraries, galleries, and museums throughout the world, including works by Messiah College art faculty and students. Friends of Murray Library and the Department of Visual Arts fund new acquisitions to the collection each year, enhancing its use as an interdisciplinary teaching resource. We invite you to get acquainted with the artists’ books at Murray Library. A selection is always on display and the entire collection is available for viewing. Just ask a librarian for access!

Air Born, Ann M. Kresge & Melinda Kennedy, 1994

Emerging Sentience, Johanna Drucker & Brad Freeman, 2001

Treading the Maze: An Artist’s Book of Daze, Susan E. King, 1993

The Book of Revelation, Robin Price & Barbara Benish, 1995

How to Talk About Art, Miriam Shenitzer, 1994